March 8, 2006

2006 Aéropostale
CAA Women's Basketball Championship
First Round - Game 2

FAIRFAX, Va. (March 8, 2006) - Three Northeastern scorers in double figures proved to be more valuable than UNCW freshman Sahsha Taylor's career-high 28 points as the Huskies defeated the Seahawks 63-54 Wednesday afternoon in opening round action of the 2006 Aéropostale CAA Women's Basketball Championship at George Mason's Patriot Center.

Shaleyse Smallwood and Ashlee Feldman scored 18 points apiece for the No. 11 seed Huskies, while Maralene Zwarich added 16 of her own as Northeastern improves to 8-20 on the season.

Taylor, who was named to the CAA All-Rookie team, also grabbed 13 rebounds to go with her personal best point total. Alex Stewart chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds for the No. 6 Seahawks (15-13).

While the two teams combined for 15 turnovers and shot just 36.5 percent in the first half, the game remained competitive going into the intermission. Northeastern led 28-24 behind 11 points from CAA All-Rookie team selection Feldman, while Taylor paced the Seahawks with 14. The Huskies had a 10-point lead with 3:40 remaining in the first stanza, but free throws from Taylor and Candace Walker and a late layup by Michaela Vezenkova kept UNC Wilmington within striking distance heading into the locker rooms.

The Seahawks started the second half on an 8-2 run to take a brief lead, but buckets by Smallwood and Zwarich got the score back in Northeastern's favor. Taylor then took over for the Seahawks, scoring eight points in the next four and a half minutes including a three-pointer at the 10:41 mark that surpassed her previous high of 24 points.

UNCW led 44-40 at that point, but Northeastern then went on a 8-0 run with Taylor on the bench to take a 48-44 lead, one that they would hold for the rest of the game.

Jody Burrows drilled a three-pointer with 2:37 remaining to give Northeastern a 10-pt lead and seal the win.

The Huskies will next face No. 3 Delaware at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinal round.